Project Number: 5347-13660-007-08
Project Type: Specific Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Sep 13, 2011
End Date: Nov 30, 2012

Objective:
The objectives of the study are 1) to develop techniques to combine remote sensing information into the simulations of cropping system models and 2) to evaluate the ability of remote sensing information to improve model simulations of key agricultural system processes.

Approach:
Research will focus on the development and evaluation of diverse computational methods, including both data assimilation and parameter estimation approaches, which can be used to merge remote sensing information into the simulations of cropping system models. Synthetic simulation experiments will be conducted to determine the added skill that remote sensing will provide for the adjustment of key model state variables, such as leaf area index and soil moisture, to improve key model outputs, including evapotranspiration and crop yield. Field experiments conducted at Maricopa, Arizona and other locations will provide measurements for evaluation of the results.